Trump's actions are pushing thousands of experts to flee government

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/17/trump-administration-brain-drain-doge/

Trump’s actions are pushing thousands of experts to flee government
The U.S. DOGE Service’s push for early retirement and deferred resignation is leading to a federal brain drain, longtime staffers fear.
May 17, 2025 at 10:33 a.m. EDT
By Hannah Natanson, Dan Diamond, Rachel Siegel, Jacob Bogage and Ian Duncan

At the National Institutes of Health, six directors — from institutes focused on infectious disease, child health, nursing research and the human genome — are leaving or being forced out.

At the Federal Aviation Administration, nearly a dozen top leaders, including the chief air traffic officer, are retiring early.

And at the Treasury Department, more than 200 experienced managers and highly skilled technical experts who help run the government’s financial systems chose to accept the Trump administration’s resignation offer earlier this year, according to a staffer and documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Across the federal government, a push for early retirement and voluntary separation is fueling a voluntary exodus of experienced, knowledgeable staffers unlike anything in living memory, according to interviews with 18 employees across 10 agencies and records reviewed by The Post. Other leaders with decades of service are being dismissed as the administration eliminates full offices or divisions at a time.

The first resignation offer, sent in January, saw 75,000 workers across government agree to quit and keep drawing pay through September, the administration has said. But a second round, rolling out agency by agency through the spring, is seeing a sustained, swelling uptick that will dwarf the first, potentially climbing into the hundreds of thousands, the employees and the records show.

....

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Exactly what the filthy scum want

Election was rigged, I have provided the proof here several times nobody wants to look at it, the assassination attempt was staged, I did not believe this for a long time but now I’m certain.

If this country doesn’t wake up and react to what’s happening tomorrow, it’s gone. It’s all gone for good.

[Walleye]

4. That's all true, but what can we do when exposing their crimes does no good.

Maga is just gonna cheer him on and say, “cry more librul.” They do it right in our faces and I think that’s even worse that way. We have Mike Johnson saying well he doesn’t try to hide any of it. Of course he doesn’t. He knows nothing‘s gonna happen. If everybody finds out, it’s quite a problem. They aren’t just flouting the laws. They are doing their best to undermine the rule of law.

[Eliot Rosewater]

6. Stupider they are the prouder they are the more

Damage they do, etc.

Destroying the institutions, destroying research and science and medicine and everything that makes a nation great is exactly what they’re doing on purpose and they know what they’re doing to the extent that they are too stupid to understand any of it but they know that’s what makes the democracy strong.

The rest of the planet will never trust us again, never. We’ve lost everything. We are going to lose everything. We are not going to get it back, if we don’t start fighting tomorrow in a very real very fucking real way, we’ll lose our lives too.

[Walleye]

9. If every bill Republicans proposed in Congress was voted down. I think Trump would get the message.

I think if the GOP lost big in the midterms, he would lose interest in the whole thing, and just stay golfing the whole time, that would be great. The real culprits are guys like Stephen Miller, and Elon Musk, who have no need to answer to the voters

[Walleye]

2. We won't get these people back either. Who would want to go back to work for a government that lied to them and fired

Them like this. We won’t even see the full ramifications of this for a while My brother doesn’t work for the government, but he and his department depend on federal grants. He is an expert on watersheds and water quality. He’s traveled to South America researching this stuff with his team. It’s all gone to shit now. It’s really a goddamn shame.

[dalton99a]

3. +1

[calimary]

5. trumpers proud of this?

Let’s hear it, trump excuseniks.

[Zambero]

7. MAGA Three-Step Plan

1. Immediately fire scores of those with professional expertise
2. Many or most who remain will be disheartened and leave voluntarily
3. Flood the zone with unqualified sycophants and loyalists

[enough]

8. Or just let it all atrophy.